Category Archives: Rumors

A long time ago, GM heard a rumor that the old consignment shop at 2622 P St. was going to be turned into a coffee shop. Since then, GM hasn’t heard a peep, nor has much work been done on the shop.

However, recently work was finally started on the shop. GM doesn’t have any further information about the owner’s plans yet, but the building permit says this:

Zoning Review Approved . Approved for a 46 seat restaurant in the basement and first floor of the existing building located in C-1 zone. Interior design business will be located on the second floor. No off-street parking required.

Back in October, Carol Joynt broke the news that a 7-11 was coming to the corner of O and Wisconsin (the old Doc Dalinsky’s). After this news was released, GM heard through the grapevine that the deal fell through. Well now GM hears that it’s back on.

GM heard that the reason the original deal fell through was that 7-11 was going to have to sink hundreds of thousands of dollars into renovating the space and was demanding either to be paid for those renovations or receive the space rent-free. The property is owned by the large Donohue family. With such a large family, it’s hard sometimes for agreements to be made which appear to be bad deals (e.g. offering a retail space on Wisconsin Ave. for no rent). According to GM’s source, the deal just couldn’t be made and the plans were shelved. Continue reading →

Last week commenter Downtown Dave left an intriguing comment regarding the Jefferson Court building at K and Thomas Jefferson St. GM linked to a WBJ article stating that JBG, the new owner of the building, was considering adding first floor retail to the building. Downtown Dave added:

I have heard that the JBG folks are talking to Harris Teeter about putting a grocery store there… Not a done deal but a very real possibility.

GM checked with JBG and didn’t hear back. But that’s no reason not to idly speculate! Continue reading →

Speculation and rumor is heating up over the possible relocation of Georgetown University’s medical campus (i.e. the Medstar-operated hospital and the medical school). Back in March, the Washington Business Journal reported that GU was in early talks with the developer of Capitol Crossing, a five acre planned project to be built over I-395 downtown. The speculation heated up more last week when the Post put a little meat on the bone and tied the expansion to the medical campus.

It’s no secret that Medstar wants a new hospital. In early drafts of the school’s ten year plan, the university included placeholders for a brand new hospital to be built on campus. These sections were ultimately cut because the plans were too undecided to specify.

The model that has been batted around for some time involves a new hospital being built either on the current parking lot or north Kehoe Field, with the school taking over the old building in exchange. This would significantly ease the school’s space problem (minus the loss of the field, that is).

GM has heard from multiple sources that this is no longer the working plan and that GU is indeed seriously considering moving the hospital and the medical school off the main campus to, well, somewhere. These recent reports would suggest Capitol Crossing, but in the past other possible candidates have been suggested such as Reservation 13 (where the old DC General Hospital was) and St. Elizabeth’s.

GM can’t really add anything to the speculation, but it is worth discussing what impact this change would have on the Georgetown community.

The most immediate impact a move like this would have is on the never ending campus plan. Creating satellite campuses is exactly what the comprehensive plan encourages for universities and that was also the message from the Office of Planning. Even the most pro-GU partisan would admit that space is tight on the main campus, and that satellite campus would relieve that pressure. And it’s not for nothing that this speculation over the move of the medical campus arose right as the school and the neighbors are entering mediation with hopes of reaching a settlement. Continue reading →

GM was told that this was going to happen eventually, but he didn’t realize it would happen so fast: Barnes and Noble has lost its lease. GM has only heard a brief rumor about it, so he has almost no details. The only piece he heard is that the new tenant, whoever they are, are paying $65 per square foot.

GM’s no real estate expert, but that sounds awfully high, particularly for such a spacious building.

Either way, GM’s going to be seriously depressed when this finally closes. Yes this is a dying business model, but he wishes that at least in cities like DC they could hold on longer. The Barnes and Noble was a great “third space” and a wonderful resource for tourists and residents alike. Yes, you can get all you want at Amazon instead, but you have to wait days for it. And the Internet has yet to recreate the experience of browsing an aisle.

GM learned the other day that Loews Georgetown is going to add IMAX capabilities. In case it’s been a while since you’ve visited an aquarium or science museum: IMAX is a special type of film where the frame size is significantly larger than the standard film. Traditional movies are filmed and projected with 35mm film; IMAX uses 77mm film. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s really significant.

Normally IMAX theaters are laid out quite differently than a normal theater. They have much bigger screens and the seats are on a steep grade, like the upper deck of a baseball stadium. GM’s not sure if the changes at the Georgetown theater will require dramatic construction. Continue reading →

According to Google, there’s not a single dentist’s office in Georgetown. This might need to change. Why? Because Georgetown is becoming one giant purveyor of sweets.

GM has noted in the past that once the second IceBerry opens up on Wisconsin, the only dessert desert will be filled in. When you’re anywhere on Wisconsin or M, you’ll be no more than a block and a half away from ice cream. Continue reading →